July 7th, 2025, Budget Comm Minutes

Attendees:

Name	Role
Dimmitri	Former Voting Member
Kristijan Kowalsski	Voting Member, Tweag
Megan Hess	Voting Member
Shunsuke Murasaki	Former Voting Member, Mentor, Emurgo
Chris Baird	Voting Member, IOG, Catalyst
Lloyd Duhon	Budget Secretary
Jack Briggs	Interim Executive Director, Intersect
Nico Cerny	Observer, Cardano Foundation Staff
Tim Richmond

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nq8lSo_JYQFi6BbWGPwKqw2_A9bZabk_dL-m4aGoY2U/edit?tab=t.arnrcwrprb9z

Agenda 1.16.25

• Execution of Treasury Withdrawals and Oversight: Updates on smart contract deployment, the formation of an independent oversight committee, and the critical task of reviewing 39 individual governance actions for constitutionality and accuracy.

• DREP Engagement and Communication Strategy: Discussions focused on motivating DREPs to vote on withdrawal actions, strategies for centralized communication from the committee, and addressing challenges like high voting volume and the implications of the Travel Rule.

• Operational Challenges and Future Process Design: Identification of complexities related to fiat conversion volatility, vendor payment issues, and the imperative to simplify and improve the budget process for the 2026 cycle based on current lessons learned.

Decisions/Actions

Topic	Discussion	Action Items
Attendance	Budget Committee Members: Dimmitri, Chris Kowalsski, Megan Hess, Shunsuke Murasaki. Budget Secretary: Lloyd Duhon. Observers: Jack Briggs, Nico Cerny, Tim Richmond. Quorum was noted as achieved upon Chris Baird's arrival.
Oversight Committee Update	Jack Briggs reported significant progress in confirming five independent entities for the oversight committee overseeing Intersect's administrator role in smart contracts. Names are pending full confirmation for announcement. One member has a funding proposal; the other four do not, ensuring independence.	Jack Briggs to confirm the names of the five oversight committee members to the Budget Committee as soon as possible.
Smart Contract Deployment & Testing	Smart contract deployment is targeted for tomorrow (July 8th). A test action (500 ADA) will be conducted by Wednesday to ensure oversight members can sign and approve funding. Metadata for all 39 governance actions is nearing completion.
Governance Action Metadata Review	There are minor changes in some of the 39 proposals (e.g., slightly less requested funds, company name changes) compared to the original budget info action. The Budget Committee needs a list of these changes to review their material effect. The metadata has been standardized, which may differ from original proposal formats.	Lloyd Duhon to obtain the document listing changes to proposals from Duncan/Gemma/Taylor and open it for committee review. Committee members to divide and conquer the review of the 39 proposals, focusing on the abstract, motivation, IPFS links, and staking address accuracy. Target completion by end of business tomorrow (July 8th).
Committee Communication Strategy	Chris Baird suggested the Budget Committee craft communications about its review actions to provide comfort to DREPs and stakeholders, ensuring transparency and highlighting the robustness of the process. Tim Richmond supported this, emphasizing unbiased platform for vendors.	Budget Committee to develop communications (e.g., social posts) to inform the community about its review of the withdrawal actions and provide process comfort.
CC Elections & Withdrawal Overlap	Jack Briggs noted that submitting the 39 governance actions this week aims to avoid overlap with the new Constitutional Committee (CC), which takes effect September 1st. This ensures the current CC handles the entire withdrawal process for a clean slate.
First Disbursement Timeline	Jack Briggs anticipates submitting proposals this week. Lloyd Duhon noted that funds could be disbursed as early as the second epoch (around July 18th) if sufficient votes are received rapidly.
Withdrawal Approval Thresholds	Demitri clarified that proposals for withdrawal actions require a 67% approval threshold, even if they previously passed the budget info action with 50%+. If a proposal doesn't meet 67%, it won't go through.
DREP Motivation & Coordination	Kristijan Kowalsski stressed the need for a coordinated push to motivate DREPs to vote rapidly within the first two epochs to avoid fatigue. Tim Richmond mentioned Intersect's "rapid response coms" and "symposium" to help DREPs understand proposals quickly.	Kristijan Kowalsski to get the DREP whipping sheet/voting dashboard from Jack Briggs/team. Committee to coordinate X and social outreach efforts following Intersect's internal comms plan.
Fiat Conversion & Volatility Risk	Kristijan Kowalsski highlighted challenges for vendors (like Modus) needing fiat conversions, especially with ADA price volatility. Intersect will convert ADA to USDM for full payment in USD where possible, returning surplus ADA to treasury. However, who bears the risk in volatile markets is an ongoing discussion.	This will be a key point for discussion in the 2026 budget process.
Travel Rule Implications	Chris Baird raised awareness about Travel Rule issues encountered by large projects when moving significant ADA sums to exchanges/custodians, leading to frozen transactions. Converting to USD/stablecoins might alleviate this.	Committee to remain aware of Travel Rule implications for large-scale fund movements.
Long-Term Budget Process Improvement	There's ongoing discussion about how to refine the budget process for 2026 to avoid current complexities. The general sentiment is to move forward with current withdrawals, learn, and then radically simplify the next cycle.	Committee to identify and propose mechanisms for long-term budget process simplification (e.g., hedging options, clear risk definitions).